5/5 ★ – Smabbott's review of Lorelei and the Laser Eyes.

Peeling back the layers Lorelei and the Laser Eyes may well be one of the best games I’ve ever played. The game incorporates a philosophy of you will be able to beat this, if you explore everything. I’ve never played a game which respects your time more than this. Game mechanics splice in and out of this game mixing different time periods to incorporate multiple art styles and graphics. The puzzles are absolutely exceptional, incorporating concepts such as the Greek alphabet, lunar cycles, algebra, perception, floppy discs, cameras the list goes on. The game takes place in the Letztez Hotel. The hotel may well be one of the most intricately connected maps I’ve ever seen in a game. Every corner is brimming with creativity and intrigue. The limited use of colour in the game makes every item pop with the sharp shadowing and slight overlay of the other side of the room. The use of purple in the game changing its shade is used to show the other worldly nature of the environment and it’s absolutely spellbinding. Doors are locked everywhere you go. Shortcuts are positioned to connect floors and hallways to others, once you discover how to open the shortcuts, you will want to smack your head for being so stupid. That happened a lot. This game is hard, opening a draw or opening a lock in this game is euphoric, I’ve screamed louder when I finally unlocked a room I’ve been trying to unlock for 10 hours louder than beating a Souls boss. Every puzzle is crafted with so much care and attention it’s insane. Moments that come to mind which I won’t spoil how you solve these but highlights were: fixing the elevator, solving your first puzzle box, opening your first document tube and unlocking the clock. This game makes you feel like a genius when you’re able to find a code for a lock. One negative I would say would be when entering a code for anything in this game, you have to complete the code in its entirety and then select the mechanism to open said lock or key. This became a bit annoying as you’ll realise you’re completely wrong, but you have to see through the whole puzzle. Bar this, the game is flawless. The story is beautiful, engaging me from start to finish as it drip-fed the pieces to you as the game progressed. The ending was absolutely exceptional as it made everything you did up to that point worth it. The game’s ability to tell the story with nothing but documentation and short still images is inspiring. I loved it all. I wish I could delete my brain to experience it all again. I had three lifelines in which I was able to use and look up what to do. Only one puzzle did I think, okay I’m not sure I would have been able to solve this if I didn’t look it up. The game tells you right at the start you will need a pen and paper throughout the game. I thought, nah I doubt it. You do. Over the course of this game I took 92 pictures to refer back to for puzzles and only took up a pen and paper at the end which consisted of 4 pages of gibberish if you didn’t know what was going on. I loved this and I need to find something else like this soon otherwise I won’t know what to do with myself. I’m so annoyed I wasn’t smart enough to finish this last year when I started it. Because it would have been my game of the year. This game is absolutely incredible and if you’re up to the challenge, I highly recommend you give it a go!